Posts Tagged ‘China’

Be on the lookout for this scam, it could cost you thousan

July 16th, 2014 (InsideCostaRica.com) While not a new problem in Costa Rica, credit and debit card fraud through the use of electronic devices called ‘skimmers’ is becoming ever more common as the skimming devices become ever easier to obtain.

The devices do their work after a criminal inserts the thin plastic device into an ATM machine’s card reader. The device than reads and stores every ATM users’ card information the moment they insert the card into the machine. The criminal returns later in the day and retrieves the device, which may by then have the full data of hundreds of cards stored on it. That information is later used to create clones of the users’ cards, or for online purchases. Continue Reading

RECOPE withdraws request for another large increase in fuel prices

July 16th, 2014 (InsideCostaRica.com) The Costa Rican Oil Refinery (RECOPE) has withdrawn a request to regulator ARESEP for another large increase in fuel prices.

RECOPE had filed a request with the regulator on July 9th to increase the price of premium gasoline by ¢29 per liter and regular gasoline by ¢27 per liter. Continue Reading

Public works deals should go back to the drawing board, says Solís in meeting with Chinese president

President Luis Guillermo Solís asked that several major Chinese projects in Costa Rica go back to the drawing board in a bilateral meeting between the Costa Rican leader and Chinese President Xi Jinping Wednesday evening during the meeting of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) in Brasilia, Brazil.

The renegotiations targeted several legacy projects devised by previous National Liberation Party administrations, including former presidents Óscar Arias (1986-1990, 2006-2010) and Laura Chinchilla (2010-2014), including Route 32 and the stalled Moín oil refinery.

Solís asked the general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party to extend the period of consideration on a $485 million Chinese loan to expand Route 32 highway between San José and the Caribbean port city of Limón from the current two-and-a-half-month period to five months. Solís said that more time was needed to analyze the project and review the loan’s terms.

Although the National Meteorological Institute (IMN) confirmed a drop in rainfall levels for the current rainy season, the Costa Rica Electricity Institute (ICE) has ruled out power outages later this year.

A lack of rainfall this season, which runs from May to November, is evident in most of the country. But ICE electricity manager Luis Pacheco said current reservoir levels remain stable and expected rainfall will be enough to keep the reserves filled for use in hydroelectric power generation for the rest of the year.